View our entire membership list and learn about the benefits of joining today.

January 2009

Colorado CHPS to Be Released for First Public Review

CHPS is pleased to announce the coming public review period for Colorado CHPS, a high performance building standard created by the Colorado stakeholders, for Colorado. For the past year, the Colorado CHPS Advisory Committee has been developing the Colorado CHPS Criteria (CO-CHPS) for use in Colorado's schools. The Committee has approved the Draft Criteria to be released for public review.

The public review of the Criteria will begin on Monday, February 9, 2009 and last for 45 days. If substantive changes are made as a result of the public comments, a second review will follow. Please visit the CHPS website to download the CO-CHPS Criteria and submit comments beginning on 2/09/09. Read more>>

More News from CHPS

Preparing for School Facilities Funding in Federal Stimulus Plan
School districts across the country are waiting to see how much funding for school facilities will be set aside in the Obama Administration's Federal Stimulus Plan. As the plan stands today, there are $14 billion set aside for school facilities modernizations and retrofits. At least 25% of those funds will be set aside for "green" modernizations, including those using the CHPS Criteria. Click here to see the portion of the Plan that relates to school funding.

CHPS wants to help you to prepare for the funding NOW. Over the coming weeks and months, we will be preparing materials that will help you to implement "shovel-ready" projects in your district. In the meantime, you can take a few simple steps to begin preparing your district for this federal funding.Read More>>

In California's Central Valley? Come to a Free CHPS Workshop!Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - 9 AM - 12 PM
The Mercedes Edwards Theatre at 840 5th St in Clovis, CA
Join CHPS for a special Central Valley Schools free workshop on planning, building and operating your high performance school. The workshop will take place Tuesday, February 3, 2009 from 9AM to 12PM at the Mercedes Edwards Theatre in Clovis, California. Get the tools and resources you need to build a new generation of healthy, green, high performance schools. Presenters will cover the following discussion topics:

How do you plan for your high performance school?
How do you finance high performance building?
How can you improve the performance and operations of existing schools?
RSVP for this workshop.

New Districts Commit to Using the CHPS Criteria
The Live Oak School District and Hemet Unified School District, both school districts in California, have become the 33rd and 34th school districts to adopt a CHPS High Performance Resolution. The resolutions specify that the districts will meet the CHPS high performance school building criteria for new construction and major modernizations.

“We are committed to sustainable, healthy, and better designed facilities for our school community,” said Larry Perlin, Board President of Live Oak School District, a Northern California district. “CHPS certainly appears to be the best green building rating system for schools. It is flexible enough to recognize the unique requirements of each school district and it was developed in California.”

Upcoming projects in Hemet Unified School District, which is located about thirty miles Southeast of Riverside in Southern California, will be funded by a bond passed in 2006, with two elementary school projects in design phase and other projects conceptualized. All projects will seek CHPS recognition as high performance schools.

“We have always been aware of the major principles of sustainable design” said Tina Koonce, Director of Facilities and Planning for Hemet Unified School District, “We are very excited to commit to a green, high performance program that will go beyond the design of the building itself”.
Read more>>

CHPS Partners on the Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom
The Collaborative for High Performance Schools has partnered with Orient Global, Architecture for Humanity and a consortium of other partners to launch the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom, the first large-scale initiative to improve the design of classrooms around the world.

The 2009 Open Architecture Challenge invites the global design and construction community to collaborate with primary and secondary school teachers and students to create smarter, safer, and more sustainable learning environments.

Teams can partner with a school of their choice or design a classroom for one of our school-building partners.

“Orient Global believes that education is the first step on the bridge to prosperity, yet it is inaccessible to many and is of poor quality for tens of millions,” said Richard F. Chandler, Chairman of Orient Global. “The 2009 Open Architecture Challenge is an exciting opportunity to better understand and serve the needs of schoolchildren worldwide, enhancing learning environments and delivering the knowledge and skills necessary to cross the bridge to a brighter future.”

The winning school will receive up to $50,000 to build or improve its classrooms and its design team will receive a $5,000 grant to help make it happen. The design competition will be judged by an international, inter-disciplinary panel of experts in the fields of both education and architecture (including students themselves). The resulting entries will be available and accessible to all on the Open Architecture Network.
Learn more about the Open Architecture Challenge Classroom by visiting: http://www.openarchitecturechallenge.org

Subscribe to E-Bulletin

You need to log into or register for a CHPS.net account before you can subscribe to E-Bulletin.